Census Sticking Point

The Census Bureau this week started its daunting task -- counting the nation's 300-plus million people -- by mailing out advance letters to 120 million households. These letters politely remind citizens that the 2010 census documents will be arriving March 15 to 17 and to please fill out and mail back the quick-and-easy 10-question form.

Census, plagued by delays and technology snafus, has come under fire for its recent advertising campaign. But the efficiency of this decennial count remains in question as the bureau prepares to handle millions of paper forms and deploy local workers to count nonrespondents.

As Alyssa Rosenberg, our colleague over at FedBlog, points out:

If the Internal Revenue Service can handle tax information safely and securely online, surely we can do the same with the 10 questions on the Census form.